For liability to be established one of the principle elements is that of whether a duty of care was owed by the defendant to the claimant, such as in the case of Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] A.C. 562.

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For liability to be established one of the principle elements is that of whether a duty of care was owed by the defendant to the claimant, such as in the case of Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] A.C. 562. The immediate duty of care that should be recognised is that of a driver to other road users. This requirement has been established by the necessity for all drivers to have insurance against third party risks, as per s 145 of the Road Traffic Act 1988. This duty has been given extensive judicial recognition, for example in the case of Nettleship v Weston [1971] 3 All ER 581 Lord Denning stated ".... The driver owes a duty of care to every passenger in the car, just as he does to every pedestrian on the road"1. Similarly from this obiter it would seem that Bob owed a duty of care to Julia as well. In Nettleship several judges made mention of the possibility of "Different considerations [that] may, indeed exist when a passenger has accepted a lift from a driver whom the passenger knows to be likely, through drink or drugs, to drive unsafely."2 However since this case, a statutory duty of care has